Fork having tine with retaining feature
a technology of forks and tines, which is applied in the field of fork tines with retaining features, can solve the problems of food being dropped on the way to the user's mouth, metal forks of the kind found in durable cutlery sets, and high cost,
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first embodiment
[0043]In the first embodiment per FIG. 3(A), essentially flat intersecting surfaces 302, 304 subtend an angle “α” very close to the tip 116 at the distal end of tine 108. The intersection of surface 302 and the gap-defining tine surface 130 creates an edge of a barb 330 very close to tip 116. Note that in this embodiment barb 330 does not extend out of the tine 108 into gap 124. Note also that, to minimize the likelihood of food residue being trapped at the peak of angle “α”, during and after washing of the dining fork for subsequent reuse, this peak is smoothly rounded. This is best seen in FIG. 3(B).
[0044]The tip of a tine in a conventional dining fork is quite small, and with care it can be easily inserted into a small item of food, e.g., a single pea or single kernel of boiled corn. Having surface 302 very close to tip 116 ensures that when tip 116 with corresponding barb 330 is inserted into such a small item of food the food will become more strongly attached to tine 108 than ...
third embodiment
[0047]FIG. 3(A) also shows a third embodiment, in which the topographic discontinuity is defined by the intersection of surfaces 314 and 316 with each other subtending an angle “γ”. Surface 314 intersects with the gap-defining surface of tine108 to form barb 350 which has a sharpness intermediate that of barbs 330 and 340. The key distinction here is that the entire surface 316 is not a single plane, like surfaces 304 and 312, but has a curved end portion smoothly blending into tine surface 130. This creates a larger food capture volume behind barb 350 than was available behind otherwise comparably sized barbs 330 and 340. Such a feature may be more suitable for somewhat crumbly foods such as relatively heavy chunks of slippery food, e.g., ketchup-covered soft boiled sausage, sour cream-covered baked potato, or the like.
[0048]Preferred values for angles “α”, “β”, and “γ”, as best seen in FIGS. 3(A) and 3(B), range between 45 to a little less than 90 degrees.
[0049]The maximum preferr...
fifth embodiment
[0054]FIG. 6(A) shows an improvement, in side view, to a distal end portion of the gap-defining surface of a single curved tine 600a of a type typically found on relatively inexpensive conventional molded plastics dining forks commonly provided at fast food eateries or at picnics. Providing such topographic discontinuities on only one side of any inter-tine gap constitutes this invention. Note the sometimes noticeable mold seam at 602. Forming any topographic discontinuity into the width of a tine made of a relatively weak plastics material very likely would weaken it to an unacceptable degree. However, with conventional molding techniques, it should be very easy to form the topographic discontinuities in the form of small pyramidal barb-like projections 604, 604 on the gap-defining sides 606, 608 of tines 600a, 600b, respectively. The projections extend to a height “h” into the gap between adjacent tines 600a and 600b and it is preferred that this height not exceed about one-half t...
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